


The 23 Times I Fell In Love With You (And The Other Million Times It Happened In Between)

by lupoxic



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Casual, Cute, Dorm setting, M/M, Romance, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, a little like cheolsoo over the years, chapters are snippets of cheolsoo's lives, cheol's pov!, just cheolsoo being cute, multiple prompts were used, school setting, this is kinda like a collection of drabbles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-03-13 15:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18943969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lupoxic/pseuds/lupoxic
Summary: There wasn't a singular moment that made Seungcheol fall in love with Jisoo.No, it was the multitude of moments, the collection of memories, the accumulation of the littlest interactions they had that made Seungcheol fall in love with Jisoo again and again (and a little more each time he did).





	1. On one fine day you magically appeared

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rippedjuns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rippedjuns/gifts).



> For my best bro <3
> 
> This cant make up for all the birthdays i missed but hopefully i can get around to fixing that in due time. Hopefully ; v ; you only deserve the best bro im sorry i can only offer you this hhhhh i promise the next one will be better cause i know now when to start writing in advance so that i can serve you the quality you deserve on time <3 thanks for being there for me through all my ups and downs and just being there for me when i needed someone. You will always be my bestest and no. 1 bro bro love you to pieces and smithereens and to the black hole and back <33333
> 
> prompts are taken from here:  
> <https://wonder7pickle.tumblr.com/post/169122787306/45-otp-prompts>  
> and here:  
> <https://wonder7pickle.tumblr.com/post/176346998681/25-otp-prompts>  
> the style of this fic was inspired by kaleidoscopic, a wonhan fic by chunji
> 
> while it was not a conscious decision, im sure i might've unconsciously thought about this fic while brainstorming ideas

The first time Seungcheol met Jisoo, he didn’t know what to make of the boy. There was so much to him that it became overwhelming and before he knew it, Seungcheol was on the floor, dazed with stars prancing before his eyes.

He didn’t expect the face to enter his sights then, nor did he expect the stars to perfectly frame his soft cheeks and bring to attention the sharpness of his doe-like cat eyes. Surely this was a visual illusion, Seungcheol can’t be seeing this right, _right_?

With a smile so sweet that Seungcheol could practically smell the vanilla that permeated the air, he pulled the fallen boy up and gave him a short wave goodbye before drifting away with an air of gracefulness that left Seungcheol convinced that he’d been floating.

While he wasn’t sure if what his eyes had laid on had been entirely real or not, Seungcheol was confident in one thing:

Nobody in the world had hands that soft. He had to have been dreaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: “Nobody in the world has hands this soft.” 
> 
> title for this chapter taken from the lyrics of svt's pretty u


	2. You can get a hug from me

The second time Seungcheol encountered the same enchanting boy, it was in a less glamorous setting. He had opted to skip his history class since he forgot to bring his workbook. Not wanting to hear the old hag nag at him, Seungcheol ventured out to find a nice quiet place to tuck himself away, just long enough that he wouldn’t be caught by any patrolling teachers on duty.

As he quietly closed the door behind him, convinced that he’d picked a perfectly empty laboratory, his ears picked up on what sounded like a sniffle, coming from inside the room. He held his breath and waited to see if he’d just imagined it. When he heard it again, he quietly tiptoed around the tables, body hunched over to avoid giving himself away through the large windows that took up half of the walls adjacent to the door.

Once he reached the other end of the room and turned, he spotted with ease a figure crouched and tucked in on themselves, forehead pressing against knees and arms wrapped around their legs protectively yet shakily. Seungcheol made his way over and kept his lips sealed when he was within arms reach of the stranger, not wanting to intrude on their personal space any more than he already had.

They lifted their head after a little later, and Seungcheol felt his heart jump a little when he recognised their face. It was the same pair of cat eyes that smiled at him during his embarrassing fall, except now tears clung to his lashes like dew and his floral smile was nowhere to be seen. 

Both boys sat unspeaking, observing each other carefully. Seungcheol was starting to become flustered from the intense stare the tearful boy sent him.

“What are you doing here?” the other said at last. The stillness of the air had been breached. The male's voice was so soft and mellow that Seungcheol felt like a blanket had been placed over the cold quietude, forming a space that was more inviting yet still serene, the tranquillity unbroken because of how delicately it was handled.

Afraid to shatter the moment, Seungcheol crossed out all the questions he wanted to ask the boy and settled instead on something he thought the other needed to hear, more so than the reason for his unannounced intrusion. 

“You look like you need a hug.”

The reply didn’t answer the other’s question nor did it even justify Seungcheol’s presence. He was about to retract his statement when the placid mask cracked, a shadow of a smile ghosting the lips of the cat-eyed boy as he wiped the tears off his eyes with the pads of his fingers.

“Thank you,” he voiced, sincerely. 

It might be too soon to say, but Seungcheol was almost sure that this boy would continue to surprise him with their unplanned encounters.

And honestly; he was looking forward to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: “You look like you need a hug.”
> 
> title is taken from the lyrics of svt's hug


	3. Because of the cold wind, I feel good

Their next meeting wasn’t too soon, but Seungcheol remembered that day clearer than any other.

The dormitory Seungcheol was staying in operated on cards rather than keys. Every individual room and apartment had keypads on the doors that required card access. That meant that if Seungcheol ever got up to get a drink from the fridge and forgetfully left his key card in his room, he’d be stranded in the living room or the outside of his apartment entirely if he chose to step out the front door.

And that was exactly what had happened. Half a glass of milk in, Seungcheol realised his mistake and silently cursed himself. Not wanting to sleep on the couch, he went to the front desk in hopes that a staff with a master key card would be there to rescue him. To his utter luck, the front desk was deserted and there was no note or anything of the sort indicating when the staff would return.

The clock on the counter showed 3.04a.m.. Seungcheol’s hopes of getting back to bed were slimmer than the waxing moon he saw that chilly night sky. He was counting the number of pillows he could steal from the lobby to make a temporary bed with when the elevator dinged and another person exited onto the ground floor to join him.

Seungcheol had hoped that it would be the staff coming back from his rounds. It wasn’t.

It was cat-eyed boy again.

(Maybe this was a better development.)

The boy eyed Seungcheol curiously. He had a blanket draped over himself and a pair of fluffy bunny slippers to protect his feet from the cold marble floor. If Seungcheol was running on any less sleep than he was now, he would’ve blurted out ‘cute’ on the spot. 

“Did you get yourself locked out too?”

Seungcheol’s face crimsoned even though he had no reason to; especially not when he caught the ‘too’.

“Y-yeah, me too,” he replied lamely. The other boy nodded at him, peered over the counter and sighed. 

“Do you think they’ll come back anytime soon?”

“I wish.” (But it was fine if they didn’t, Seungcheol wouldn’t mind waiting the night out if it meant hanging out with this boy.)

The blanket covered boy walked towards Seungcheol, causing the latter to tense - until he realised that the other was walking past him, towards the seats in the lobby. He watched as the other plopped down on one of the several empty armchairs before looking up at him.

“Come sit with me,” he offered. Seungcheol obeyed.

The uniform ticking of the wall clock was deafening. Partnered with the piercing coldness of the air from the lack of heating in this floor, Seungcheol wondered why he would subject himself to this kind of torture when he could’ve just dealt with a sore back from spending a single night on the couch. Unlike the other boy who was dressed in his comfy pyjamas wielding a blanket that cocooned his body heat, Seungcheol had left the confines of his room in a thin white shirt and a pair of shorts. In other words, he was not at all dressed for this kind of weather and was now suffering the brunt of it because of the circumstances he placed upon himself.

“Are you sure you’re not cold?” the other boy asked a second time. Wanting to seem manly, Seungcheol had told the boy earlier that he didn’t get cold easily and loved winter, even though the truth was the exact opposite. He would like to blame the flaunting of his ego on the fact that he was drowsy beyond belief because who was he fooling with his chattering teeth and shuddering limbs?

Meekly, Seungcheol smiled at the other apologetically and raised his white flag of defeat.

“Actually, I'm freezing. If you don’t mind, can we… share the blanket? Please?”

The opening of his arms as he invited Seungcheol under the comfort of his blanket was much like a mother bird opening her wings for her little ones to hide under. Though the shelter of the boy’s blanket was completely dissimilar to the warmth of his own mother, Seungcheol still enjoyed the feeling that spread through his body from the core and started missing it when the staff that showed up later at 5 a.m. for the morning shift had hurriedly returned the boys back to their rooms with utter concern marring their countenance.

Seungcheol learnt a few things that day when the staff had their identities checked before bringing them up to their respective rooms.

1) They were both staying in the same dormitory building.  
2) He stayed in room 0312.  
3) His name was Hong Jisoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompts:  
> “Come sit with me.”  
> “Are you sure you’re not cold?”  
> “Can we share the blanket?”
> 
> title taken from lyrics of svt's beautiful  
> it's getting harder to find lyrics for these chapter titles hhhhhhhh


	4. Normally I’m not like this

Their last encounter finally put a dent in their bubble fo awkwardness, allowing them to move on and be more receptive towards each other. That was at least more apparent in Jisoo, who smiled and waved whenever he caught Seungcheol in the school hallways or at the dormitory laundromat. Seungcheol was less apprehensive than before, but he definitely still froze for half a second every time he saw Jisoo, just before he’d punch it away and force himself to act cool and nonchalant with the other. 

Whether the freezing thing was from the lingering awkwardness in his mind or something else pertaining emotions on Seungcheol’s part was something he would explore later when he had the right consciousness to do so. Right now, his mind was set on other things. 

Like what to get from this vending machine in front of him.

Brows drawn in a straight line as he concentrated, Seungcheol stroked his chin, eyes flickering between the packet of Twix and Snickers.

“Get the Twix, Snickers can be a little overwhelming sometimes.”

Seungcheol nearly catapulted himself onto the glass of the vending machine at the sudden voice. Catching himself, he turned around and came face to face with just the person he’d anticipated, for the voice belonged to someone he was rather familiar with now.

“You,” he breathed out, tension leaving him along with his breath as his shoulders slumped forward. “How long have you been standing there?”

Jisoo hummed lightheartedly, not at all like someone who’d nearly given someone else a heart attack. “A while.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

Jisoo’s soft grin spread in amusement, the corners of his lips curling up so high Seungcheol saw the image of Cheshire Cat superimposed over the other’s face for a split second.

“It’s because you were thinking so seriously that I didn’t wanna interrupt your train of thought,” Jisoo said with a chuckle. “Your expression was totally different from what I’d seen before.” 

The blood drained from Seungcheol face when the words registered in his head. _His thinking face_. He probably pulled it again. He distinctly remembered his friends teasing him for it, and he had been careful to cure this bad habit ever since. He thought he’d gotten rid of it a long time ago.

Embarrassed, Seungcheol pressed the palms of his hands together and dipped his head in a small bow. “Please tell me next time, I beg of you. I don’t want you - or anyone really - to see my thinking face. _Please_.”

Jisoo’s eyebrows pinched and he tilted his head. 

“Why not though? You’re cute when you make that face.”

Seungcheol’s heart actually jumped this time, as did his entire body from the shock. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if Jisoo was the root of his cardiac arrests. 

Unable to say anything (how was one supposed to reply to that?), Seungcheol coughed and turned around, ignoring the coy smile that Jisoo had. He inserted his loose change, enough for two packs of Twix and handed one of them to Jisoo, who looked at the sweet treat then back up at the other male, confused.

“As thanks for the compliment,” Seungcheol explained, pushing the Twix closer to Jisoo, “and also for the blanket the other day. I would’ve frozen my butt off if it weren’t for you.”

Jisoo giggled right then and- really, Seungcheol’s heart probably wouldn’t have shot up as fast even if he were shoved out of a plane without a jetpack with no prior warning. 

“Thank you,” he says genuinely, as sincere as the last time Seungcheol heard it. He briefly wondered how such a common phrase could sound entirely different when Jisoo was the one saying it. 

Seungcheol smiled back, and while it was largely reflexive, he wouldn’t have questioned if his grin seemed too wide for no apparent reason - not when his reason could be Hong Jisoo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> prompt: you’re cute when you make that face
> 
> title taken from lyrics of svt's pretty u
> 
> maybe... myabe i should just use the prompts as chapter titles-
> 
> but that might give the chapter away :(

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are appreciated!
> 
> thank you for reading~ (๑>ᗜ<๑)


End file.
